To Plot and Avenge
by Sphere Dragon
Summary: Plotting against your friends can be quite fun, right? Well, not if they're plotting against you too. The DMC team is having a Halloween party and Patty finds out that in this world, everyone is as likely to hug you as they'd backstab you.


**Author's Note: **Hello, fellow authors! Here comes a new fanfic from me! =D

This is supposed to be a three-chapter fic. I will _try_ to post a chapter every Sunday, but considering how slowly I write and my laziness, it'll probably be done by Christmas. xD

I guess that it'd be good to mention that this takes place after DMC4 and that Patty is a teenager by then. There! Now I avoided lots of confusion and misunderstandings! ^^

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Devil May Cry.

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><p>"Ladies, please take a seat while I get the tea."<p>

Lady flashed them a wicked smile - hinting that this afternoon would become _very_ interesting - and wandered into her kitchen.

Patty sunk into a soft armchair, its leader cushions almost swallowing her. Twisting and switching position until she felt content, she made herself comfortable. She surveyed Lady's living room with interest. After all, how often did she get invited to Lady's place? This was probably the first time she'd ever seen the mysterious house from the inside.

The living-room was pretty small, but cosy. The walls were painted in a light colour - it was hard to see which, due to the lack of light - and a large rug decorated the dark floor. Curtains prevented the light to enter, except for a small steak in the middle of the room, illumination a nice table. A sofa and two armchairs were scattered around it. The flat TV that Lady had acquired a couple of weeks ago hung proudly on the wall.

In a summarized form: everything was arranged according to Lady's expensive taste and design.

"Do you know why we're here, Trish?" Patty asked out loud, fixing her gaze on the tall blonde. Just wondering how much everything in this room could cost made her awfully dizzy, so she needed to focus on something else.

Trish leaned her head to the side with a contemplative look on her face. "I can't say for sure, but I think this has something to do with Vergil. Lady and he have been at each others throats the _whole_ week." She shook her head softly, and uttered a lamenting sigh. "She hasn't said anything to me about it, but I think they're going to break up."

Patty stifled a shocked breath. How could this happen? They had always seemed like a steady and calm couple, not to mention that they looked _really_ cute together! Like large-eyed-baby-panda-with-a-red-ribbon-tied-around-its-neck-and-lolipop-in-hand-cute!

A melodic voice flew through the air, "How sad! I sincerely hope you're wrong, Trish."

Patty looked at the armchair on the opposite side, where Kyrie sat with her hands neatly in her lap. The fair-skinned woman flattened the creases on her long skirt with slow movements. She seemed to contemplate something.

"There's nothing wrong with me and Vergil," Lady clamoured firmly, appearing out of nowhere with a filled tray. A delicate tea set weighted on it, surrounded by cupcakes and cookies. They looked delicious, and Patty's mouth started to water immediately. "I can assure you of that. Vergil's just being a little… _stubborn_."

_Stubborn? What does she mean with that?_

A stern silence camped in the living-room. Only the shuffling of small plates and the tinkling of china was heard. Patty did not fail to notice that Lady's face had become a little _too_ stiff, her lips too thin, while she assigned everyone a cup of tea.

Patty contemplated her statement for a while and then shrugged it off. It wasn't her problem after all, and she didn't want to seem too nosey by asking. Hopefully they could sort it out.

Lady took a seat on the couch, beside Trish. "You know, I had a funny dream a couple of nights ago. Everyone - that is, the four of us and the guys - had become demons and monsters. Dante had become a giant hamburger, though."

Giggles escaped everyone.

"We decided to have a party," Lady continued, her cheeks gaining some colour. "It was held in the Devil May Cry shop."

"What an appropriate setting!" Trish exclaimed smugly and reached after a cupcake. "I hope these things are low on fat. I don't want to gain more weight."

Trish emitted an embarrassed laugh, only to receive irritated looks by the rest of the females.

_Yeah, because Trish is in dire need of a diet. _

Tuning her sarcastic remarks out, Patty put her chin on her hand and focused on Lady's tale.

"Oops! Continue now, Lady!" Trish took a bite of her chocolate cupcake.

"Well," Lady mumbled and sipped her tea. "Dante told us a ghost-story. Then strange things started to happen; things started to move by themselves, people disappeared, windows broke and the lights flickered all the time. Creepy stuff. Suddenly, ghosts started to appear. Everyone panicked - even Vergil! - and started to run all over the place. You'd think that demon hunters, would exterminate those creatures. After lots of strange encounters I found out that the guys were behind it all, and that Vergil was the mastermind!"

_Say what?_

Patty raised a blonde eyebrow. "That was one weird dream, Lady."

Lady suddenly smashed her fist into her other hand. "I hope everyone comes to the Halloween party next week at Dante's place, because shit's going down! This must be a sign, or something! It's obvious that Vergil is in fact _planning_ something; he's been hiding in the cellar for days and he's been on the phone with Dante for _hours_!"

Patty leaned back cautiously, eyeing the enraged Lady warily. Talk about mood-swings!

"How do you know he's not calling a sex-line?" Trish offered casually and made a small gesture with her hand. A teasing smirk appeared on her face.

From her corner, Kyrie's eyes widened and her cheeks flared up like bonfires. It was only by mere willpower that Patty avoided laughing out loud. Hanging with a perverts like Dante and Trish _did_ have its positive side, apparently. That was pretty much how their conversations went, so she was used to it.

"_You_ out of all people should know when a man talks dirty," Lady mumbled lowly and leaned against the couch.

Lady uses bitchy-ness on Trish… It's super effective! That sentence wiped Trish's smirk off.

"Anyway." Lady crossed her arms over her chest, examining the other females. "Let's get back on the subject."

Kyrie nodded eagerly, a little _too_ eager perhaps. Her cheeks had returned to their former pale colour.

Trish crossed her legs. "That'd be nice, thank you."

"I think that the guys need a good scare."

"They do."

"They do." Kyrie repeated softly, nodding in agreement.

Lady put her finger warningly in front of her face. "Dante's been getting too lazy and fat and he hasn't paid me back."

_Whoa!_

Patty's hand snatched forth and she grabbed a huge strawberry-flavoured cupcake. While munching on it, she inspected the others.

_Everyone here is going to prank Dante pretty badly then, if they want payback for _everything_ he's done._

"And he's become a real pain in the ass, too!" Trish growled and creased her forehead. "He asked me to do his laundry last week. His _laundry_."

All the females shook their heads in disgust.

"So," Patty raised her hand slowly and scratched her chin with the other one, "you want us to prank Dante, Vergil and Nero at the Halloween party?"

The light intensity from Lady's beaming smile almost blinded Patty.

"Yes. _Hell_ yes. And this is how we're going to do it…"

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><p>Patty stormed inside the Devil May Cry, slamming up the door in the process. The store had underwent a complete make-over. Everywhere she looked there were cobwebs, candles and creepy skeletons decorating the walls and furniture. A large pumpkin was seated by the beginning of the stair. Something caught her eye behind a table, but the hazy light made it hard to see what it was.<p>

Then she remembered why she had been stressed and regained her pace.

_Oh shit! Dante and the guys are on their way!_

Not bothering to close the door, she left her package by the sofa and rushed up the stairs taking two steps at a time. She entered Dante's room to make sure that her outfit was there - the witch outfit was carefully laid out on the bed - and peeked out.

"They're coming!" she yelled out before closing the bedroom door shut.

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><p>Dante dug his hands deeper into his pockets, searching after… ah, there it was. He grasped the small object tightly.<p>

_Thought I had lost it there._

"I still do not understand why I can't go to this foolish Halloween party in Devil form," Vergil complained lowly, his face lit up by the moonlight. Two fake teeth protruded from his upper jaw. "Aren't we supposed to look frightening? And I fail to comprehend why children ask us for candy all the time; shouldn't they fear us? Isn't that why we are wearing these silly suits, brother?"

What Dante failed to comprehend was how the hell Vergil could speak with those plastic teeth in his mouth without even stuttering a little! Perfect pronunciation and everything. Neither did it look like it bothered him. When Dante wore those uncomfortable little things in his mouth they always cut his gums.

"You must've been a vampire in your last life, bro," Dante commented and smiled widely. He received an irritated look from his twin.

Vergil shook his head. "Human culture is impossible to understand."

Dante gazed over to the Devil May Cry. A pumpkin grinned darkly on the stairs, overlooking the street. He could see Lady and Kyrie bustling around inside, doing some chores. It was nice to see that he wasn't needed, at least not for those kind of activities.

_Wait… What the fuck?_

Lady pulled something dark over the windows, making it impossible to see inside the building.

"Verge!" Dante growled and pointed towards the windows. "They're screwing up the plan, man! How are we supposed-"

"We'll think of something," Vergil answered sharply, cutting him off.

A couple of minutes later, footsteps echoing from an alley nearby caught their interest.

"Old men," Nero greeted them cheerily, raising a hand.

Dante let out a chuckle and crossed his arms over his chest. He balanced on his left heel.

"Kid!" He looked at the young man, who wore an extremely hairy suit. He was either trying to be a werewolf or Bigfoot.

_This guy's a walking laughingstock! Oh, the jokes I could crack up right now!_

Dante made an overly astonished expression. "Whoa, Nero! Congratulations to getting over your identity crisis! When did you realize that you were in fact a _furry_?"

Nero's face darkened as he looked down to his feet. After giving Dante a cocky laugh he made eye-contact and smirked.

"I shouldn't be surprised that you know of that topic, Dante," he grumbled, clearly irritated. He wandered up to the older men. " You _are_ the one jacking off to furry pictures, after all. Pervert."

"Enough!" Vergil's voice shattered the friendly atmosphere. An embarrassing silence brooded over the place. "Let's head inside. They're expecting us."

* * *

><p>"Is everyone here?" Patty twirled around gracefully, surveying the area. Damn, Lady sure had done an excellent job. If there would've been a contest, then the Halloween themed shop would have won easily.<p>

"Pretty much," Lady answered over buzzing around them. The black-haired devil hunter showed off an impressive vampire suit, adorned with dark lace and silver. She clapped her hands twice and gained everyone's attention. "It seems like everyone's here, so it's time to start. As the hostess of this party, I welcome you to the haunted manor… of Sparda."

Patty peeked at the twins standing in the back; Dante would've looked awesome with his zombie suit if he hadn't had Rebellion with him and Vergil was portraying a vampire king, high and mighty and everything. It fit him.

_Well, Dante didn't come dressed in a fairy suit at least._

"I thought that we could all begin with entering the Mysterious Forest," Lady continued, smiling. "It's just a block away, people. Don't look so gloomy."

_This isn't what we were supposed to do._

Patty creased her forehead in confusion, but forced herself to relax as she noticed that Nero was looking at her. If she looked like disturbed, then they'd know that something was wrong!

_I hope Lady knows what she's doing, or else everything will fail._

"We will venture out in pairs," Lady said and demonstrated a small bowl filled with folded pieces of paper. "To avoid cheating, I've written the names of every person in this room. We'll draw lots and form pairs that way."

"Wait a minute," Nero interrupted loudly. He pointed at everyone in turn and formed inaudible numbers with his lips. "We're seven persons."

Kyrie froze up. "Does this mean that somebody will have to enter that forest alone?"

_Ah! _

The mere thought of entering a dark, wet forest freaked Patty out pretty badly. Alone - well, she wouldn't come further in than ten meters before running away.

Lady leaned her head to the side and grinned widely. "Maybe."

_This was _so_ not planned! Did Lady trick us?_

Now, Trish stepped forth, earning everyone's focus with her giant queen dress.

_What the… Trish tricked us too! Damn, Kyrie and I have no idea of what to expect! _

"When entering the forest, you'll have two objectives. One," she held up her index finger cautiously, "find the lost child inside the woods. There's one child for every pair, and only one. Trust me on this one: you will _instantly_ recognize your child once you see it. There's no way you'll be able to fake one, so don't even think about it."

Patty grabbed a handful of popcorn and squeezed it into their mouth, savouring the flavour. This could be her last meal, for Sparda's sake!

Trish's middle finger joined her index finger. "Object number two is entering the haunted house. I won't tell you what you're supposed to do once you're there. That'd be too obvious. Just remember to look around and _be_ _cautious_."

"There's something else you should know. Deep inside the forest is an ancient entity who calls himself the Guardian. Should you encounter him, you'll get a request or a mission to complete. If you succeed he will give you something that will aid you in your quest after the children. However, if you fail…"

Trish shook her head. "The consequences will be hard."

_How lovely._

"And," Trish added smugly, taking note of Patty's expression, "I should warn you about the creatures that inhabit the forest."

… _I don't even feel surprised right now. Honestly: I don't feel anything at _all_. Probably better that way._

"If you see them first - _great_! You'll have about five seconds to run away or hide. That's actually a lot of time, considering. If they see you first - well, you won't stand much of a chance."

"Will we be unable to fight these monsters?" Vergil asked clearly. His cold poker-face was up and running.

Trish answered hesitatingly, "No, I don't think so. Nope. Sorry."

All three guys grunted in synchronization, sounding slightly disappointed.

"So," Lady held the glass bowl in front of her, "is there anyone brave enough to start?"

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><p><strong>Author's<strong> **Note**: Ah! There! The first chapter's done! Finally!

Thank you for your favourites and your reviews, people! They make me a happy girl!

*Smiles like an idiot*

See ya'll later!

/Sphere Dragon


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